How to Make a Magpie Bridge for Night of Sevens

On the Night of Sevens on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, Chinese who see magpies in flight think of the legend of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl, represented by the stars Altair and Vega, and how the magpies form a bridge across the Milky Way to reunite the lovers for that night.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Black tights or black pants/shirts
• Magpie masks (optional)
• Painted images of magpies on cardboard

1. Dress a group of children in black.

2. Fit each child with a magpie mask or give each child a large piece of cardboard with the image of a magpie painted on it with its wings spread from side to side.

3. Line up the children side-by-side in several lines with the smallest children in the front line and the tallest children in the rear line.

4. Have all the children kneel. If the children are wearing masks, have them put their heads down, join their hands together and raise and lower them in rhythmic unison. If the children are holding cardboard images of magpies, have them put them out in front of them, overlapped to show continuous lines of bird bodies, and have them raise and lower them slightly.

5. Place a boy and a girl representing the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl at opposite ends of the magpie bridge. As the children representing the magpies raise and lower their arms or cards, have the Cowherd walk closely behind them to make it appear as if he is walking on the bridge toward his beloved.

Tips & Warnings

• Play a recording of a black-billed magpie's call either during the bridge walk or for the children beforehand to have them rehearse making its sound. This species of magpie is found throughout most of the world, and particularly in China, where the legend originated.